Exquisite Mother's Day foodie gifts she'll actually want!

Mother’s Day is a wonderful excuse to receive gifts reflecting your favorite food passions. Rather than the same-old, these treats from RegionalBest.com look unique and special. I don't tout products I haven't tried, but these look tempting enough that I simply must post--if only as a hint!

For the Gluten Free Mom

Caren Wize, chef and owner of Truly Wize Bakery, makes delicious all natural, gluten free products that are beautifully packaged in eco-friendly gift boxes. We recommend Assorted Macaroons, the extra rich and moist Gluten Free Brownies, and the fruit flavor filled Whoopie Pies.

For the Chocolate Lover Mom

Roni-Sues Chocolates of New York City offers several truffle collections, including the Cocktail Truffle Collection, unique handmade truffles featuring a variety of classic cocktails like the Manhattan, Mojito, Dark & Stormy, Mimosa and Margarita. They’re made with the finest local ingredients and some include tequila, coconut rum, bourbon and sweet vermouth. In addition, Roni-Sue’s exclusive Regional Chocolate Collection features a variety of flavors each very different and unique to represent regional flavors throughout the United States, such as blueberry, cherries jubiliee and pecan pie.

For the Garden Lover Mom

Artisanal Shortbread from Simply Nic’s in New Jersey is available in luscious varieties like Rosemary, Lavender and Cardamon Candied Ginger. Artisan Baker Nicole Bergman gets fresh rosemary from local farms, and gardens in and around Princeton, NJ. She harvests rosemary from the herb garden that Littlebrook Elementary School’s Garden Club (in Princeton, NJ) plants, as part of the Princeton School Garden Cooperative.

For the Breakfast Lover Mom

If mom is a coffee or tea lover, you can’t go wrong with Kohana’s Best Coffee Sampler, a selection of Kohana’s best roasted coffees, or the Flowering Teas Sampler from Great Lakes Tea and Spice. The teas are absolutely gorgeous served in a clear class pot or cups.

For more great ideas check out RegionalBest's Gift Guide.

Product Review-Theo 75% Blend

I've been curious about Seattle-based Theo Chocolate. I'll admit that attractive packaging can pique my curiosity, and Theo's enthusiastic commitment to green initiatives, organic farming and fair trade make a product purchase an act of moral justice. (One can never be too dramatic when justifying a chocolate obsession.)

The company is the first North American roaster of organic fair-trade cacao. Founder Joseph Whinney pioneered the manufacture and supply of organic chocolate products, importing organic cocoa beans into the US in 1994. Notably, every product is made with "Fair Trade certified cocoa beans," according to the company's website.

The packaging is indeed alluring. In April 2008, Theo's array of gorgeous packaging made Time magazine's Design 100.

I selected the Ghana-Panama-Ecuador 75% Cacao bar (3oz), a combination of Ghanese cacao, Panamanian cacao from the remote rainforest of Bocas del Toro, and Ecuadorian Arriba cacao. Theo's Ivory Coast bar sat next to it on the shelf, and when I compared the two, the Ivory smelled infinitely more intriguing; I chose the blend because there were very few left and I felt it was time to break my single-origin habit.

I shouldn't have. The blended bar seemed fresh, it had no signs of bloom and had a good snap, but the scent and flavor fell flat. Subtle to the point of uninspiring, the bar lacked personality and the finish was uneventful. A beautiful chocolate keeps me ooh-ing and ah-ing long after I've finished a single bite. There was nothing to savor with this bar, although searching and hoping I tasted and tested longer than necessary.

I ought to have known better. One of my benchmarks for chocolate tasting is how long it lasts in the pantry. If it goes fast, I note its "Mediocrity Paradox". Seem contradictory? Therein lies the paradox: more bites than necessary are taken while chasing an expectation of flavor, of satisfaction, a gustatory reward, but the product's poor quality fails to deliver. Anyone who has eaten a large portion of "fat-free" anything, only to be left stuffed and unsatisfied, understands. I'm willing to argue that all foodies agree that a few bites of something sublime always surpasses a larger portion of any mediocre dish.

That said, the very scent of the Ivory Coast bar, (even through the packaging!) was memorable enough for me to give Theo another shot. And, the next time I'm in Seattle, I will certainly stop by for a factory visit.
For steps on how to taste and appreciate dark chocolate, refer to my How-To Guide.

Food Fact! Cacao is native crop of Bocas del Toro. The rainforests of this Panamanian town adjacent to Costa Rica are so pristine, Lonely Planet Guide calls them "a biologist's fantasy".
Ecuador’s high-quality cacao provides a living for some 100,000 local families. Ecuadorian cacao characteristics uniquely possess a floral scent and soft flavor known as the "Arriba" cacao.
Ghana is the third largest producer of cacao in the world.

Who's Afraid of Fearless Chocolate?

Want to put a smile on my face? Hand me a dark-chocolate bar I've never tried before. Better yet, a quirky raw, organic bar like this 72% Midnight from Fearless Chocolate. That's just what my husband did when he returned from a business trip to Vegas, where he enjoyed lunch at GoRaw Cafe, purveyor of Fearless Chocolate.

Company owner Jordan Schuster founded Fearless Chocolate only a few years ago, in San Francisco--a neighbor to our beloved Scharffen Berger and the popular Ghirardelli. What makes Fearless Chocolate different is that it is made with raw cacao---aka unroasted. The package states that the cacao is prepared at a low heat (under 118 degrees), "preserving the natural nutrients, enzymes, amino acids and antioxidants." It is also sweetened with rapadura, essentially pure dried sugarcane juice.

What's odder (and irresistibly charming) is that the packaging (

and website) appear as nothing fancier than chalkboard drawings, underscoring the bar's back-to-basics organic nature.

When I opened it, I noticed the bar is die-cut to suggest a bite has taken from it. The idea behind this is explained as follows: "this bite is given to folks who need to eat chocolate as much as you." When I checked the website, it would seem that no giving has been done to date, although the company requests recipient nominations. Hmm, maybe locate pre-menstrual tension sufferers who would/could never pay $5.98 for a single chocolate bar? Or maybe package up those little bites for wee trick-or-treaters on a raw diet, who are never able to enjoy even a fraction of their loot?

But what does it taste like? It tastes like raw cacao, folks, and that's a big compliment. My bar had no signs of bloom. It did not snap as sharply as a fine, roasted counterpart might, however. Its scent is earthy and nutty, and I could detect its included cinnamon, sea salt and vanilla. The texture is very grainy, from start to finish; This is to be expected, considering its production process.

Only a few squares in, and I am delighted by its wholesomeness and balanced composition. I am a person who keeps a bag of raw, organic cacao powder in the fridge, stirring it into plain yogurt with agave nectar at alarmingly frequent rates, so perhaps I am biased. My overall impression is that it is a wonderfully delicious and nutritious treat. Surprisingly low in calories and sugar content, I daresay it's pretty low-glycemic, although bars sweetened with agave are available by special order. Fearless Chocolate also offers the following varieties: Nice Rice Milk, Mynt, and Baanaanaa Waalnut, but for some mysterious reason, you can't order from the Fearless website!

Food Fact! Rapadura is a traditional sweetener common in Latin American countries such as Brazil and Venezuela (where it is known as papelón) and the Caribbean. In Panama it is also called raspadura, thought to derive from the words "raspar" (to scrape) and "duro" (hard), a reference to the way the hard sugar brick is shaven to produce usable shards for cooking. The local dialect often drops the letter "s", resulting in the word we hear as "ra'padura". Rapadura is very rich in dietary iron.

Raw Brownies with Icing!

Sugar is a stranger at our house. A lover of all things dessert, you would guess otherwise, but I have found countless "alternatives" for ooey-gooey, sinfully delicious and satisfying treats. I put alternatives in quotations, because, in truth, what is available in the produce department is delightfully sweet, complex in texture and wildly versatile. The real deal.

When I was nineteen, overweight and eating junk, I came across this cookbook on macrobiotics. Lovingly written, this book changed my entire outlook on food, and in many ways, my body. It also retrained my palate to find a simple apple sweet to the taste, and soon after refined sugars became headache-producing. Anyway, that was, ahem, 18 years ago. While I'm not exactly macrobiotic now---I'd say I'm more, "if God provided it, it must be OK; If any ingredients were produced by industrial chemists, it must not be"---my very favorite type of cooking is raw food, rivalled only by my lust for (almost quizzically, now that I think of it,) French cuisine: the full-fat, rich-sauced, beautifully-prepared variety.

Anyway, above all, I adore raw desserts. I fantasize about existing on them alone. It was during one such fantasy that I came across this lovely little recipe that is so easy to make and so deceptively wonderful, that I just have to share. Not only is it made with only "good" fats, but it is also low-glycemic*, gluten-free, flourless and vegan.

Get out your food processor, and toss in:
1 cup walnuts
1 cup dates
1/3 cup cocoa powder
Special note: Good food requires good ingredients. Treat yourself to some Scharffen Berger cocoa powder. Green and Black's makes a nice organic one. Navitas makes Raw Cacao Power, perfect for the purist. (The extra cost for your luxury cocoa splurge is justified by your savings in flour, eggs, butter and milk!)

Grind these ingredients until they resemble potting soil, then pat firmly into an 8x8 pan.

Next, use your blender or hand-mixer to blend the icing:
2 avocados
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup cocoa powder (see Special Note above)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
dash salt
dash cinnamon

This icing is to die for!! Don't tell anyone that you're using avocados to make chocolate icing, they might just gag. But, one taste and you will never look at an avocado the same again. In fact, this icing recipe makes much more than you really need; consider it a bit 'o love from me to you.

Ice your brownies, lick the spoon, and place in the freezer to set (1 hour). Since this is, essentially, a bunch of healthy fruit and nuts, feel free to nibble on a brownie on your way into work in the morning---and let me know how they turned out! Makes 12.

Other ideas: I'm going to try substituting organic almond or peanut butter for the walnuts, to create a "chocolate-peanut butter cup" version.
*To make this ultra-low-glycemic, replace the dates with prunes.

Food Fact! What is cocoa powder? Cacao nibs are ground to extract about 75 percent of the cocoa butter, leaving a dark brown paste called chocolate liquor. After drying again, the hardened mass is ground into the powder known as unsweetened cocoa. The richer, darker Dutch cocoa has been treated with an alkali, which helps neutralize cocoa’s natural acidity.

The Best Chocolate Cake for Lovers of Real Chocolate

I absolutely love chocolate. To me, real chocolate begins at 70% cocoa; I especially favor the mid-to-high 80 range. I like it dark, I like it beautifully-made, and I like to taste the intricate notes imbued by the cacao beans’ country of origin. And even then, I like to compare the differences between soils and shared crops within a given region. I like to eat chocolate the way other people drink wine. And I know I’m not alone—you’re here, curious and likely hungry.

This recipe is adapted from Michel Montignac’s wonderful book, Slim Forever - The French Way. It offers a rare opportunity to transform the world’s best chocolate into an astonishing (I mean, mind-blowing) cake, without detracting from the chocolate’s inherent flavor and character. I say “rare” because this cake has the consistency of a mousse or cheesecake, although it is dairy-free and sugar-free—and flourless (wheat- and gluten-free). The best part? You can have your cake and eat it too; Montignac places all chocolate with 70% or more cocoa at a GI of 25.

Change My Life Forever Cake
Begin with just over a pound (16.5 ounces) of the best 70% or higher chocolate you can find. Click here for recommendations.
1. Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch round springform pan with baking parchment. (The collar lining the side of the tin should rise above the top of the pan.)
2. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
3. In a double-boiler, melt 11 ounces of chocolate, broken into pieces.
4. Separate 10 eggs. Using a hand-held electric mixer, beat the egg whites until peaks form. Do not overbeat.
5. Remove the melted chocolate from the pan and let cool 5 minutes. Gently stir together the beaten egg yolks and add to the melted chocolate. Add a couple of tablespoons of the beaten egg white and stir just to combine. Quickly and gently fold the rest of the egg white until the mixture has the consistency of a souffle or light mousse. Do not overmix.
6. Pour the chocolate mixture into the pan and bake for 8 minutes exactly. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool 30 minutes; then refrigerate, covered, 12 hours or overnight.

To finish, take the cake out of the refrigerator and turn it onto a large plate. Melt 6.5 ounces of chocolate in a double-boiler as described above. Pour a thin film over the top of the cake. Chill in the fridge 15 minutes. To serve, dip a sharp knife in the hot water and use to slice the cake.

Still need coaxing to trade in candy bars (with empty nutritional calories, piles of sugar and often less than 10% actual chocolate, doing little more than rotting your teeth)? Check this out.To emphasize my adoration of great chocolate, I’ll make this offer: if you live in Orange County, I’ll bake this cake for you myself, with your choice of either Scharffen Berger or Valrhona (or a mixture of each) and deliver it to your door for 40 bucks. How do you like them apples?

Food Fact! Chocolate is packed with high-quality polyphenol antioxidants that may reduce the risk of developing heart disease and/or having a heart attack.

Single-Origin Chocolate Reviews

Mother’s Day “week”, the last few days before mommy’s most hallowed day, are typically a time of fret and worry for me.

I have always yearned to have children, but as life unfolded they didn't arrive until my mid-thirties. (At just the right time, with the perfect partner for me, as it turns out.) And so their mere existence should be gift enough, right? But like the little girl who always dreamed of a Barbie-esque white fluffy wedding only to grow up to become Bridezilla, Mother’s Day brings out some emotionally-charged, well, expectations, that I try ever so hard to quash. My husband is a giver by nature, my kids are beyond fantastic, requisite brunch reservations are arranged, so I should need nothing more than a handmade card. Which, by the way, I know I’m getting because I already saw what little Joseph made in nursery school and it’s nothing short of perfection!

Nonetheless, my husband Joseph has made a kind offering to soothe and appease, in the form of two single-origin dark chocolate bars. One is Santander’s 70% cacao Colombian, and the other is Chuao’s 74%, made in Todasana, Venezuela. Interestingly, they both have natural vanilla added; I wonder if that has anything to do with being single-origin. Perhaps, without a blend of crops, a flavor boost was needed.

The Santander 70% Colombian smells mellow and rich, and has nice snap. It was fresh-looking in the package without bloom. The company promises a “robust” flavor, even suggesting it will be “bitter” at first, and it’s true, my first impression was that it seemed nutty and even masculine, like tobacco or strong coffee, but without being overly bold. Overall, this is an energetic bar, and remains rich at the finish. The Santander company proudly states on its website that they pay fair prices and cash payments to growers, maintain good working conditions for personnel, promote sustainable and friendly agricultural practices, and sponsor Colombian educational programs.

The Chuao 74% smells sweet and fruity, and is configured in smaller squares, which I prefer. It has a good snap. My bar had only the slightest bloom, which of course does not affect flavor. If I am allowed to consider the Santander masculine, this most certainly is it’s female counterpart, evoking a lazy, breezy, tropical afternoon. Although this dark chocolate has 4% more cacao than the Santander and only 1% more sugar, the finish seemed much sweeter.In many ways, the Chuao is “local” to me. The company was founded by two Venezuelan brothers who opened their first chocolate boutique in San Diego (where I lived for 8 years), naming it Chuao Chocolatier after the well-known cacao-producing region of Chuao located in central Venezuela.

Food Fact! Need coaxing to trade in chocolate-flavored candy bars for real dark chocolate? You already know candy bars are empty nutritional calories, contain high levels of refined sugars and often less than 10% actual chocolate, doing little more than rotting your teeth. But, consider that cocoa is rich in antioxidant flavonoids called flavanols; Studies have shown that people with high blood levels of flavonoids have lower risk of lung cancer, prostate cancer, asthma, and type-2 diabetes.

Tasting Dark Chocolate

Planning a Chocolate Tasting Party? Or maybe, like me, your passion for good chocolate borders on religious fervor. (TGiC? Or how about, WWCD?) This info is complete and perhaps overly-detailed; as a busy mom of two boys aged one and three, it is difficult to find a moment without background noise (particularly of the “crying baby” variety.) Does it stop me from enjoying my choccy? Hardly. I also like the notes about allowing the piece to slowly melt in your mouth. It’s so Paul McKenna, but also may be eye-opening. Just how fast do we eat our food, especially when it’s a treat? Or when chasing babies? Ok, Dig in!

1. Find a location free from background noise, such as television, music, a crying baby, road traffic noise or just talkative friends etc. Being able to concentrate as intently as possible will facilitate flavor detection.
2. Clear your palate. This means that your mouth should not contain residual flavors from a previous meal. Eat a wedge of apple if necessary. This is crucial in order to taste the subtleties of chocolate’s complex flavor.
3. Make sure that the piece of chocolate is large enough to accommodate full evolution of the flavor profile. A piece too small may not allow you to detect every subtle nuance as the chocolate slowly melts. The important thing to remember is that flavor notes gradually evolve and unfold on the tongue rather than open up in one large package. So remember, don’t think small here. 10g should be a minimum starting point.
4. Allow the chocolate to rest at room temperature before tasting. Cold temperatures will hinder your ability to detect the flavors. Some even advise that you rub the chocolate briefly between your fingers to coax the flavor. This procedure is optional.
5. Look at the chocolate. The surface should be free of blemishes such as white marks (called bloom). Observe the color and manufacturer’s job at molding and tempering. Does the chocolate appear to have been crafted carefully? The bar should have a radiant sheen. Chocolate comes in a multifarious brown rainbow with various tints, such as pinks, purples, reds, and oranges. What do you see?
6. Break the piece in half. It should resonate with a resounding “SNAP!” and exhibit a fine gradient along the broken edge. This is quality stuff!
7. Smell the chocolate, especially at the break point. The aroma is an important component of flavor. Inhaling will prime the tongue for the incoming chocolate. It also gives you a chance to pick up the various nuances of the aroma.
8. Place the chocolate on the tongue and allow it to arrive at body temperature. Let it melt. Chew it only to break it into small enough pieces that it begins to melt on its own. After all, we’re tasting and not eating! This step is crucial, for it allows the cocoa butter to distribute evenly in the mouth, which mutes any astringencies or bitterness in the chocolate.
9. Observe the taste and texture. As the chocolate melts, concentrate on the flavors that are enveloping your tongue. Melting will release more volatile compounds for you to smell. Close your eyes, take notes, enjoy this moment of bliss, and bask in contentment. Texture can be the most obvious clue about the quality of a chocolate. Low quality chocolates will have a grainy almost cement-like texture.
10. Now the chocolate is nearing its finish. How has the flavor evolved? Is the chocolate bitter? Heavy? Light? Was the texture smooth or grainy? Do any changes in texture and flavor occur? Take note of how the chocolate leaves the palate. Is there a strong reminder lingering in your mouth, or does it quickly vanish? Note any metallic or unpleasant flavors in the finish. This is a sign of stale or lower quality chocolate.
11. Repeat the process with a different chocolate. The comparison will highlight the subtle flavor notes in each chocolate. By sure to cleanse your palate thoroughly before tasting each different chocolate.

Notes on bloom:
The formation of whitish spots, or bloom, on chocolate is due to a separation of some of the fat in the chocolate. While it affects the aesthetics of the chocolate somewhat, it isn’t harmful to eat or use chocolate that has bloomed. Bloom is related to heat and humidity, so store chocolate in a cool, dry place free of odors.
The above is adapted from WikiHow.com’s article, “How to Taste Dark Chocolate.”

Need fabulous chocolate recommendations? Check out the Unassuming Foodie Gourmet Food Source!

Can't Get Enough Raw Chocolate Brownies

This raw brownie recipe is sticky and fudgey and oh-so-yummy---and kid-friendly, of course! To be honest, I haven't shared even a square of my latest batch with my boys. They get to eat all sorts of things that mommy can't have without losing her waistline in the process---namely gluten. This lovely little recipe is gloriously low-glycemic, made with only “good” fats, and is gluten-free, flourless and vegan. And so easy!

Get out your food processor, and toss in:
1 cup pitted prunes
1 cup almonds
1/3 cup cocoa powder
Special note: Good food requires good ingredients. Navitas makes Raw Cacao Power, perfect for both the raw purist and chocolate connoisseur. Or, treat yourself to some Scharffen Berger cocoa powder. Green and Black’s makes a nice organic one. (The extra cost for your luxury cocoa splurge is justified by your savings in flour, eggs, butter and milk!)
1/2 avocado
1/3 cup agave nectar (or to taste)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
dash salt
cinnamon to taste

Grind all ingredients, then pat firmly into an 8×8 pan and place in the freezer to set (1 hour.) If you like a fruit and nut chocolate bar, this will certainly satisfy.

Food Fact! Almonds reduce your risk for heart attack and heart disease. A Loma Linda School of Public Health study showed those who consumed nuts five times a week had a 50% reduction in risk of heart attack. Further, some varieties contain rhizveritrol (the anti-inflammatory agent found in red wines and thought to be responsible decreasing instances of heart disease even among those with diets rich in animal fats---sometimes referred to as the French Paradox.) The fat in nuts is unsaturated, "good" fat and there is no cholesterol in these fats.
Diabetes and Hypertension suffers rejoice! Cocoa is rich in flavanols, which are one class of polyphenols; The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports that eating dark chocolate (with 70% or greater cocoa offers 500mg polyphenols) is associated with improved insulin resistance and sensitivity and decreased systolic blood pressure, whereas white chocolate (offering 0mg polyphenols) has no effect.